Possible Debris From The Missing Malaysian Plane Washed Up In Western Australia

Bluefin RoboticsBluefin-21 has searched about 35 square kilometres of the Southern Indian Ocean.

Australian authorities will assess debris that washed ashore in Augusta, Western Australia, to determine if it is from the Malaysian Airlines passenger jet that went missing last month.

Perth media reported the discovery of the debris, found at almost the south-westernmost tip of Western Australia. The location is far south of the area where a US Navy underwater drone was searching last week for fading sonar pings thought to be from the plane’s black boxes.

A spokesman for the Air Transport Safety Bureau told The West Australian that the find was “interesting” and that it would be recovered from the police station where it was handed in today.

The Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre, which has been leading the search effort, had this statement:

Western Australia Police have attended a report of material washed ashore 10 kilometres east of Augusta and have secured the material.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is examining the photographs of the material to determine whether further physical analysis is required and if there is any relevance to the search of missing flight MH370.

The ATSB has also provided the photographs to the Malaysian investigation team.

No further information is available at this time.

Any further information will be made available if, and when, it becomes available.

Flight MH370 lost contact with air traffic control shortly after departing Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on the morning of March 8. The rescue effort has involved resources from 10 countries and has covered vast areas of the Southern Indian Ocean, where the plane is believed to have crashed.